This Blog is dedicated to generational marketing and communications and hosted by GenerationXpert Suzanne Kart. Suzanne, who is a Gen Xer, has more than 10 years experience writing, speaking, and studying generational communications and has spoken on the local, state, national, and international level. She can be reached at generationXpert@gmail.com

Thursday, December 6, 2007

The Unsexiest Generation

If you are a Gen Xer - or just wish you were - here is a fantastic article from Marie Claire magazine that declares our generation unsexy. And I do believe they are correct!

3 comments:

Scott
said...

Suzanne, I'm starting to believe that you are simply a generation Xer who longs to be younger. That article is quite simply, wrong. I used to think like that until I attended my 20 year reunion this past summer and realized that the women in my class were and are as beautiful as any college women today, I just didn't appreciate it at the time. What that article, and apparently you, fail to understand is that the free love of the 60's and the sluttiness of the 90's dies. The classiness of our generation is eternal. Prudish? I don't think so. Prudent? Certainly. Better or worse? Nope, just another generation. Something to be jealous of? Hell no.

I read this article differently. I thought the author was being tongue-and-cheek about the whole thing. I loved the 90s and really wish Janeane Garafolo was still the icon for young women. I hate low-rider pants and sluttiness and everything that seems to be popular among college kids these days.

I thought the article was using this kind of Rodney Dangerfield humor to point out that we (Gen Xers) get a bad rap. We have higher standards.

I'm 36, so that's class of '89, so we're pretty close in age. I couldn't handle being a Gen Y - I was too influenced by Susan Faludi (and I like high-waisted jeans too much).

You're keeping me on my toes, Scott. Now that I know there's someone reading, the bar is raised.

I'm currently reading "When Generations Collide" which I picked up just because I'm a software developer and I've really seen the boomers and older getting mad when things are handed to younger people that the elders had to really fight for. For example, a laptop or a seat near a window. But then I catch myself doing it when the kids (heh, heh... I used a dirty word) coming out of college simply don't know a life without technology and I catch myself telling, "Back in the day..." stories.

For me it's fascinating to read about WHY the generations are the way they are.

One thing I've noticed is what generations call "broken". When we were growing up "broken" meant that the dial or the tube needed to be replaced. Now, "broken" means you have to download new firmware to the device - no moving parts on a iPod. :)

"I don't know where I'm goin - but I sure know where I've been"

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Suzanne Kart

About Suzanne

Suzanne Kart is a writer, presenter and practitioner on marketing and eMarketing. Currently Director of Marketing for the Learning Resources Network (LERN), she is one of the nation’s leading experts on Twitter, social networks and generational communication for lifelong learning. She has more than 16 years experience in the marketing and communications fields. She does workshops across North America on marketing, eMarketing and generational communication.